Never Stood a Chance
by Crushed Echo
Summary: Nothing can ever get between Oliver Wood and his best friend, they were best friends after all. And despite the fact that their mates at Hogwarts insist that the two of them are dating, it doesn't stop brave souls from getting between the dynamic duo. But only time will tell when Oliver realizes that his relationship with his best friend hasn't been as simple as he thought it was.
1. Adventures in Hogsmeade

Best friends, that's what they were and always would be. Best friends first and foremost. Best friends always and forever. When people talked, they were always mentioned as a pair, as best friends. You could not have one without the other. And it wasn't just that they meshed perfectly together or that they always got along, but they were just always together. They broke all laws to having a social life by being best friends and it seemed like the entire school had accepted it since day one. Gryffindor Quidditch captain Oliver Wood and Ravenclaw Prefect Quinn Pearson.

She would always watch him practice on the field, rain or shine, expect during the winter, she was a delicate flower that way. But she would wait for him to finish training before going to meals with him, because they were best friends. And in return he would spend hours upon hours in the library attempting to stuff something into his brain just because she liked the library.

Even in their free time, they were always together, like one another's shadow. It became a natural thing to see Oliver standing outside of the Ravenclaw common room trying to answer the riddle in order to get into the room. No one, but first years, blinked twice when Quinn waltzed into the Gryffindor common room as if she lived there. Because they were best friends, and not everyone was happy with that fact.

"Are those two really just friends?" Sophia demands nodding towards the two best friends conversing comically on one of the plush armchairs in the Gryffindor common room, Oliver's long muscular legs intertwined in Quinn's more petite and shorter legs.

Fred and George nod simultaneously, how many times did they hear that question come out of a pretty girl's mouth? Too many times. "They're just best friends." They both say recalling the times they tried to get the pair together only to realize that they pair was practically together they just didn't realize it. "Why?"

"No reason." Sophia shrugs, pushing her pretty blond hair away from her tear drop shaped head. She was a year younger than the two sixth year best friends. "But don't you think it's kind of strange?"

"Nope." George replies automatically, Fred nodding in agreement. The only unnatural thing would to see the two of them apart for more than a day.

"They're best friends after all." Fred adds, finishing his brother's thought.

Sophia frowns, when she was a first year she immediately developed a crush on the older Scottish young man in her house, however, his so-called 'best friend' was always with him. Even to her first year eyes she could tell that the relationship Oliver had with Quinn was not that of normal friends. "Of course, so I still have a chance."

Sophia was too busy staring at Oliver to notice the look the twins traded; they had been down this road before. "Of course." George reassures. Despite possibly hurting the girl's feelings, it would make a nice betting pool, how long would it take for Sophia to realize that Oliver would always place Quinn first?

After all, Quinn would always be Oliver's better half and Oliver would be Quinn's better half. They complimented each other's personality. Their dynamic was the definition of a good relationship: Quinn always laughing at Oliver's lame attempts at being funny, Oliver with his chin propped up on Quinn's shoulder and an arm around her waist when he wanted to see what she happened to be reading while standing. They were essentially the perfect couple that wasn't dating each other.

Quinn was even there when Sophia asked Oliver to accompany her to Hogsmeade. Sophia had expected at least some sort of negative response from Quinn; however, the older girl merely gave a sisterly kiss on Oliver's cheek before disappearing to the library. "So, is there anything else you wanted to talk about?" Oliver asks rubbing at the oil residue left by Quinn's lip balm.

"Um, no, I suppose not." Sophia replies, the words barely out of her mouth before Oliver smiles and rushes off towards the library without so much as a glance back at her. It didn't take long for the entire school to start talking about them, but then again, no one was really too surprised by it.

"How long do you think Sophia and Oliver will stay together?" Angelina asks the twins. It was a common conversational subject when it came to dating and the best friends. Each of them had their share of breaking hearts, most guys got jealous when Quinn would skip out on dates to watch Oliver's practices and girls got uneasy when all Oliver would talk about is Quidditch and Quinn.

Sophia frowns; despite all the things she knew about Oliver, she still wanted him all to herself. She stares across the table at Oliver, meshed between Quinn and Percy. Playing Quidditch had kept Oliver fit in all the right places, and his Scottish accent made all the girls swoon at one point or another, over all, there was no reason not to like him.

Quinn was the main problem. You did not mention Oliver in a conversation without somehow referring to Quinn and vice versa. Everyone referred to them as a collective pair that had to be mentioned together, their school mates did it, their mums did it, and even their professors let it slip from time to time even when Quinn and Oliver were rarely in the classes now.

But this time would be different, Sophia made it a goal to not be like all the other girls Oliver had dated in the past, the ones who quickly got left out and became the third wheel to the Oliver and Quinn duo. Therefore, Sophia quickly dragged Oliver away from his friends once they had arrived at Hogsmeade, heading straight to Madam Puddifoot's. It was easy to converse with Oliver, they joked about Quidditch and Sophia's classes before Percy came rushing in.

Percy gives a brief nod towards Sophia before whispering something into Oliver's ear. "Listen I had a great time, but I have to run now." Oliver says suddenly just as the refill on their drinks came back. "The twins changed Quinn's owl into a cat."

"Doesn't she have any other friends to help her?" Sophia asks but Oliver is already getting up and throwing his jacket back on.

"Quinn's alone with the twins, I fear for the safety of everyone near them." Oliver says, Percy nodding gravely and the two of them rush out the door, but not before an "I knew you'd understand." Coming from Oliver, right before the door closed behind him.

Things like this did not make sense to Sophia; they were having a good time. She could tell that Oliver was enjoying himself by the way he laughed and seemed at total ease. In all actuality, Sophia would totally give up on Oliver if he weren't so charming, athletic, handsome, and everything else that she could every wish for in a boyfriend. But maybe Oliver just needed to be reminded how should be at the top of his priority list.

Sophia somehow had to slowly separate Quinn and Oliver from each other. After all, it was totally ridiculous that they could finish one another's sentences if they wanted to, or that they were better at snuggling up against each other than baby ducklings. They were so good they could teach a class on snuggling.

After the early disappearance of Oliver and their first date, Sophia never saw the perfect chance to ask Oliver to go out against. In fact, Oliver had asked if Sophia would like to join him for a picnic _with Quinn_. Their third date did not involve Quinn in a physical sense, but rather, ever story Oliver would tell, had Quinn in some significant role. Quinn playing Quidditch with him when they first learned to fly, Quinn punching Marcus Flint in the face for insulting Oliver on the Quidditch field, Quinn finding a way around detentions with Filch, and they went on.

And now that Sophia was dating Oliver, it seemed like a whole other version of his friendship with Quinn was revealed. When there wasn't a trip to Hogsmeade, the two of them would usually bum out in either the Gryffindor or Ravenclaw Common room in large sweaters and baggy pants. Sometimes they would just insist on sitting there without moving for hours, or they would make tea and bring up food from the kitchens, but that would only turn into a fight over the last piece of toast.

They also touched a lot. Sophia never realized just how much Oliver and Quinn touched each other. "They're so adorable together." Alicia says dreamily as Oliver puts his toast down to walk all the way to the Ravenclaw table just to fix Quinn's unruly hair that fell past her shoulders in a mess of tangled waves. And Quinn would always fix Oliver's tie because it seemed as if he was unable to ever tie it himself. And then there were all the little playful pushes they would give each other, the looping of arms as they walk down the hall, and all the other little touches they did.

"Hey, sorry I'm late." Oliver says slipping into the chair across from Sophia. The common room was pretty empty at this time of the evening; most students were enjoying their dinner in the Great Hall.

"Something come with Quinn again?" Sophia asks bitterly. She had gone through all the trouble of arranging a nice evening dinner for her and Oliver and he has the nerve to show up late and all because of his best friend too.

Oliver doesn't seem to notice Sophia's tone, even smiles at the mention of his favorite Ravenclaw. "Sort of, Percy's nagging me to work with him on a Potions essay and Quinn is covering for me right now."

Sophia blinks at this, her next angry comment evaporating on her tongue. "Oh, well, that's very kind of her."

"Quinn would do that for anyone." Oliver states confidently. "Though, I do feel kind of rubbish for leaving her to listen to Percy talk about Potions." Sophia nods, but she doesn't feel too bad about it. More time Oliver spent with her meant less time he spent with Quinn.

And the best part is that Sophia successfully avoided talking about Quinn the entire night. She couldn't help smiling when she woke up in the morning. Perhaps she wouldn't have to initiate her plan after all. That is, until she steps out of her door.

Quinn and Oliver were sitting side by side on the common room floor, sipping mugs of tea and staring at the alarm clock in front of them. "What's going on?" Sophia whispers as Angelina and Alicia step out of their rooms.

"Huh? Oh it must that time again." Angelina says rolling her eyes at the pair, an amused smile gracing her tired features. "In about five minutes it'll be the anniversary of the first time they met. Apparently, ten years ago and five minutes, a six year old Oliver accidentally pushed a six year old Quinn into a lake. He felt so guilty about it that he gave her a chocolate frog as an apology. Then he said that he would marry her and protect her and then went on to introduce her to all of his Quidditch heroes."

"That's so adorable." Alicia says as the three girls watch as the alarm clock goes off, Oliver and Quinn simultaneously grab a cup of water and throw it at each other before returning to their respected mugs of tea. "Oh look, they even have chocolate frogs." Indeed, they symbolically recreated their first meeting.

The two best friends glance over at them at the sound of Alicia's squealing, neither of them looking embarrassed about their little ritual. In fact they seemed quite proud of their ten year anniversary, so proud that they spent the whole day connected at the hip, except for when they were in class. But once class let out, they would walk each other to their next class, muttering funny past memories to each other. It made Sophia's happy mood turn sour really fast, everywhere she turned she saw Quinn and Oliver together.

"Not going to Hogsmeade this time?" Fred asks finding a rather fuming Sophia staring into the small fire in the Gryffindor Common room. He and George had once again managed to cause such a ruckus during Potions that they weren't allowed to go this trip.

Sophia shakes her head. "Oliver has plans already." With Quinn, was the unspoken and inferred ending to her statement which would explain her anger at that moment. "What do they even do together that they don't already do?"

Fred and George trade looks, again, "nothing."

"You mean, they've snogged before?" Sophia demands her eyes widening to the point where she looked like a bug eyed monster of some sort. Perhaps it wasn't the twins' brightest idea to mention that aloud to her when she's already out for blood. "When?"

"You mean the first time?" Fred asks tapping his chin; he was having too much fun with teasing the poor girl with these facts. "Quinn came back from a vacation in the States and they have a game there called Truth or Dare. George dared her and Oliver to kiss."

The entire event was much more anticlimactic than it sounds. It was back when they were in their second year, Quinn and Oliver merely just stared at one another, leaned in really close and pressed their lips together for a few seconds before sitting back in the circle to rub their lips and drink lots of water.

The second time was during the same game but after many bottles of butterbeer. Fred had dared the two of them to snog for a full minute. Oliver tried to make it into a show by pulling Quinn onto his lap, but she kept giggling and eventually gave up after the inability to keep the giggles quiet.

Oliver and Quinn had gotten good at putting on a show for it seems like making the two of them snog is the twins' favorite dare. But in revenge, Oliver and Quinn force the twins to stop pranking for a week or just stop talking for the rest of the game. Needless to say, the game wasn't played as often as one might think it is.

Sophia had reverted back to biting her nails, a habit she grew out of when she was a first year. She thought of rewarding Oliver with kisses whenever he paid more attention to her, however, it would seem that Quinn had already done that with Oliver. It was hardly fair; Sophia could barely get a good night kiss from Oliver without Quinn's wide amused smile hanging over them like an overtly happy cloud. She had to do something.

In the friend hierarchy best friends are always on top, they received the most attention and affection. And then there were the normal friends they spent time with every few times a week. Oliver and Quinn were best friends, practically connected at the hip, they were the pair that old couples point at and comment how cute they are together, they are the pair that searches far and near for that one Chocolate Frog card that they still don't have in their collection. They are the pair that everyone couple wants to be. Oliver and Quinn are the perfect couple that isn't a couple, despite what everyone believes them to be.

Even when they dated other people, they were still seen together, all the time. They were probably seen together more than they were seen with their significant other. Sure, Oliver would sometimes walk Sophia to her morning classes, but it hardly compared to the hours he spent with Quinn. Over all, Sophia needed to get Quinn and boyfriend or at least a new best friend.

As far as Sophia could tell, Quinn's closest friends were mostly Ravenclaws, they were a tightknit House after all. Quinn always had someone to talk to when she didn't have Oliver with her; she was surprisingly popular despite the heartbreaking legacy she left behind. Quinn was the heartbreaker of the duo. It was something about her large innocent blue eyes and small petite appearance that makes all the males in her year want to smother her in love.

"Another letter?" Oliver asks resting his chin on Quinn's shoulder in order to read the parchment in her hands. It was another poor sap who placed his heart out on a silver platter only for Quinn to step on it without a second thought.

Quinn nods, carefully folding the letter and placing it in her bag to dispose of later. "Did you ask her yet?" In the past, Oliver and Quinn had always been each others dates to school events; this would be one of the rare times where they would be another girl on Oliver's arm, something that their school mates found incredibly strange and disturbing.

Oliver nods, "I have a good feeling about this." According to Oliver, his relationship with Sophia was actually going well, which is quite a feat for him because he is absolutely rubbish at dating women. Only his closest mates would know that Oliver bribed Quinn to write all of the sappy love poems/messages and pick out flowers for his girlfriends. But that was as far as her meddling would go, Quinn had refrained from interfering with Oliver's dates, but she demanded all the details when he returned from them. And he would come back to tell her all the details about his date. Sometimes he would get a sparkly faraway look in his eyes and Quinn would go and fetch him a nice mug of tea.

"What do you think they're up to?" Fred asks glancing at Oliver's closed door every few minutes. It was one of those rare days where they didn't have Quidditch practice and Oliver and Quinn hadn't taken over one of the large armchairs with their snuggle fest. One could only wonder what the two of them could possibly be doing together in Oliver's room, alone. The fact is that everything was a lot more innocent than one would think. Quinn and Oliver were probably hanging over the edge of Oliver's bed taking about the beauty of Sophia's soul or coming up with some wild idea that they would eventually get distracted from.

"Oliver, Oliver, Oliver." Quinn was a bit more than a little off her trolley. She wraps her long arms around Oliver's neck, pressing her lean body against his side. Sophia may have hinted to her male friends to try and get Quinn away from Oliver that evening. Perhaps one of them would interest Quinn. But she hadn't factored in Quinn's weakness towards butterbeer.

Oliver sighs, wrapping an arm around her waist to keep her steady. "Which one of them let you drink butterbeer?" Oliver had seen all the guys that had crowded around Quinn when they entered the Great Hall together. He had merely wished her good luck before heading off with Sophia.

"Oliver, tell me that I'm pretty. Lavender Brown said I wasn't pretty." She points towards a small brunette in the middle of the crowd. Quinn makes a teary eyed face at Oliver, her lower lip quivering. It was the most convincing pouty face that has ever been created.

"You are very attractive Quinn." Oliver says, stepping back to glance at her long orange dress and black corseted top. "Even in your new ugly dresses and weird haircuts." He gave her a small kiss on her nose before she appeared to be satisfied with his answer. And then she was gone because "this is her bloody favorite song by the Weird Sisters; I hope people know to watch their feet. She has no control when she dances."

"Do you want to dance?" Sophia offers, sliding closer to Oliver and playing with the buttons of his coat. "And tell me that I'm pretty because I'm your girlfriend and I'm wearing a new dress with a nice haircut." She had tried to pass it off as a joke; however, it was totally barmy that Oliver hadn't complimented her once on her appearance since they started dating.

Oliver shrugs and offers her an arm. Oliver's parents insisted that he learned how to be a gentleman because the only girls he would attract as a professional Quidditch player were crazed fans. Thus, young Oliver learned perfect table manners and ballroom dancing. And as if Sophia couldn't think that Oliver could be even more perfect. He was handsome, athletic, relatively smart, and a good dancer. Sophia was slowly leading them towards the edge of the crowd where she was going to suggest they some place a bit more private when Oliver looks up and the moment is broken.

This time it wasn't Quinn, not really. It was Percy who had caught Oliver's attention. Quinn had passed out from all the excitement and massive amounts of butterbeer that had entered her system. "She's such a lightweight. Listen, sorry about this, but I'll catch you later; I've got to get her back to her dorm."

"Would you like me to help?" Sophia asks trying her best to salvage the already lost moment, that and the fact that her stomach fluttered when Oliver passed her a brilliant smile. "I mean, it looks like she can hardly walk."

Oliver shakes his head, easily carrying Quinn up the stairs and towards the Ravenclaw Tower forgetting for a moment that he has never been able to solve the riddle in all his six years at Hogwarts. It wasn't that he was particularly stupid, he was taking his N.E.W.T in Charms, Transfiguration, and Potions; however, if it didn't have to do with classes or Quidditch he would just forget about it. As a result, he didn't have much of a choice but to bring her back to the Gryffindor Common room.

It wasn't embarrassing or awkward to wake up on a plush couch with Quinn's petite body sprawled on top of his with her death grip around his arm. They had more sleepovers than nondating males and females should be allowed to have. Oliver stretches his arms above his head; cracking his back a disgusting number of times before taking a piece of toast of the towering stack of toast Quinn had retrieved from the kitchen. "I have the odd feeling that I have forgotten about something." Quinn mumbles in between bites of her toast.

"That is bloody wonderful, Quinn." Quinn leans back to meet a very tired looking Roger Davis. "I figured you'd be here." Roger had been the designated Ravenclaw to go get Quinn a couple hours before the dance ended because of her inability to handle the butterbeer that she would want to drink. "Thanks for taking care of our Prefect." Roger nods towards Oliver.

It had long been accepted that Oliver would be an honorary Ravenclaw, after all, he spent nearly as much time in Ravenclaw Tower as he did in his own tower. "I'm absolutely sorry, Roger." Quinn says, giving his thin waist an awkward hug.

Roger dismisses the apology with a wave of his hand. "It was no problem." He had actually been preoccupied counseling another one of Quinn's suitors for the majority of the evening. One of Roger's best mates, a fellow Ravenclaw by the name Leon. They were to meet up again to discuss specifics, something Roger was secretly dreading.

"You could always ask her." Roger states rubbing his face. As much as all Ravenclaws enjoyed their common room with the astrological stars on the ceiling and the hallow sounds of the wind, there were times where Roger just wanted to run out screaming. This bloke, Leon, wanted to know everything about Quinn. "She's not as frightening as people believe her to be."

"Shove off." Leon says, turning pink at the thought of it. "You're supposed to be helping me."

Roger sighs; he would be lying if he said he never felt anything towards Quinn. She was a rare beauty and had a legacy for crushing hearts. But as Roger had easily learned through his interactions with her, Quinn was merely a free spirit that couldn't be tied down to be a pretty little thing hanging off of some bloke's arm like other women. But she had a kindness within her that not many people seemed to recognize. "She likes the Wimbourne Wasps and tea." And getting on her good side would only be a good thing when Roger needed to sneak out of the tower late at night.

Leon nods, storing the information for later use, which happened to be five minutes later when Quinn finally returns to Ravenclaw Tower in what appears to be one of the sweaters that belong to both Oliver and Quinn. Roger nudges Leon in the ribs. The fast he learned that things would never work between them the faster Roger wouldn't have to deal with his best mate's love sickness. "So, Quinn, I was wondering if you'd like to have a drink with me. Not tea, obviously, but a drink, with me, in a pub?"

Quinn looks at him with a blank face. She recognized Leon as a studious, yet popular, student who was actually in most of her classes; however, she couldn't recall a single instance where she actually had a conversation with him. "I suppose I could."

Contrary to popular belief, Quinn also had her own insecurities. "But you said you would go with him." Oliver says, taking a sip of tea. He was always there to listen to Quinn's worries, because it wasn't often that she would be the one who required help.

"I would feel awful for saying otherwise." Quinn plops down on the arm chair and buries her face into a scarlet and gold pillow. She peeks up at him from her pillow. "What should I do, Oliver?" One could say that when you dated one of them, you actually date both of them due to the unfortunate fact that they asked one another for advice, a terrible idea because Oliver is absolutely rubbish at dating girls and giving dating advice.

"I hear Leon is a good looking bloke." Oliver says, easily dodging the pillow that was thrown at his head. "Perhaps you will actually like him?" For some reason when he told Sophia that he couldn't meet up with her because Quinn was having relationship problems, Sophia didn't appear to be too disappointed. Women were very strange creatures.

Quinn sighs, surrendering herself to her fate. "Very well, I need more tea anyways." With all their little talks regarding Sophia's 'beautiful soul' and how nice she smells, Quinn was quickly running out of tea.

"We could go together if you'd like." Oliver offers, he and Sophia were going to Hogsmeade anyways, and besides, his best friend is in a pinch, what kind of would he be if he didn't help? Thus, Oliver, Sophia, Quinn, and Leon were all jammed together in a booth at the Three Broomsticks.

Sophia could be less ecstatic about spending another date with Quinn, but at least she was there with Leon and not just there because Oliver wanted her to be. With any luck, Quinn and Leon would get together and Sophia could finally be alone with Oliver. Things could not be going any better.

Or so Sophia thought, but the days following the date, Oliver and Quinn were still connected at the hip. How they managed to juggle a relationship, friendship, and schoolwork was beyond anyone's mind. "I thought you said things went well?" Roger says scribbling down another sentence to his essay.

Leon sighs, he thought Quinn was enjoying her time with him, but then again, Oliver was also there. "She spends all of her time with Oliver." It was part of the truth, Quinn's time was split between Oliver and her studies, and there was no room for anything or anyone else. In fact, Leon was pretty sure that all of her past relationships failed because of Quinn's lack of interest in them.

"Don't you think we're a bit strange?" Oliver asks suddenly, taking his mug of tea from Quinn. They were lounging on the armchair in their sweaters while drinking absurd amounts of meditative tea, for some reason, neither of them had any commitments that needed attending to.

"Of course, you once smashed my face into my birthday cake." Quinn says automatically, leaning her back against Oliver's arm. Her eyes closed in quiet contemplation.

It was Quinn's eighth birthday and Oliver's mum and dad gave her a new broomstick, one that Oliver had wanted. Oliver was upset until Quinn allowed him to use the broom whenever he pleased, and in return Oliver playfully dunked her head into her cake. They had ignored each other all afternoon the next day until they made up over Chocolate Frogs.

Oliver quickly works his fingers over Quinn's tense shoulders, knowing exactly where the most tension would build up, mostly because of the inhumane amount of studying that she did. "We also once spent an entire afternoon going through a bucket of Chocolate Frogs looking for the card that you didn't have, you could be more specific."

"How much we touch." Oliver says, resisting the urge to fix Quinn's hair, which just made him realize how much he did touch her. He couldn't remember a day where he didn't touch her at least once.

Quinn hums something into her mug. "We're best friends. Is this about Sophia?" She turns away from the rub to look at Oliver when he answered her. She always said that his eyes gave him away which is why he never won any of their arguments, that and the fact that he could never hide anything from her. "It is, don't worry about her, she's a big girl."

Oliver sighs, he liked Sophia, and he truly did. He wouldn't date her if he thought otherwise, but he just didn't understand why she would sometimes get a chilly attitude when they were having a great time. "What about Leon?" Quinn groans and ducks under a pillow again.

"He's too nice." Leon may not seem like it but he was very possessive. He insisted that Quinn wear that little trinket of a necklace he bought at Hogsmeade, he carried her books for her, and he also had the need for bombarding her with presents. "He carries my books to class for me, Oliver."

Leon and Quinn shared only one class, yet, he still insisted that his girl shouldn't have to carry her books to her classes. In his mind, Quinn was a fragile glass doll that needed to be taken care of. Despite the fact that she played Quidditch one on one with Oliver and probably had more muscle than Leon had. In contrast to their House label, Quinn didn't spend every waking moment studying. "But you two seem to get along wonderfully." Oliver points out.

Quinn sighs, pouring herself another mug of tea. Unbeknownst to the best friends, their little conversation was overheard by some devious twins and some secretly devious Quidditch Chasers. "I do feel bad for Leon." Katie says sheepishly. The Gryffindor Quidditch team along with a few close mates of Quinn's thoroughly believed in Oliver and Quinn as a couple, which meant they tried to deter others from interfering with the perfect relationship.

However, it was just lucky that Oliver and Quinn took one another's rubbish advice when it came to dating and they were too nice for their own good. Over all, Sophia and Leon didn't stand a chance against Oliver and Quinn's relationship.


	2. Girlfriend and the Other Woman

People's eyes would naturally drift over to Oliver and Quinn; they had a dynamic chemistry together that didn't appear when they were with Sophia and Leon respectively. Sophia had thought that when Quinn finally got herself a boyfriend, it would mean more alone time with Oliver, but no, the best friends were as strong as ever. Thus, Sophia tried a wide range of possible ideas to win Oliver over. She bought a nice, warm sweater for Oliver, making sure it was the exact same shade of red as their House color. They stayed late at Hogsmeade to have dinner at a nice restaurant. And sometimes she just listened to his really bad taste in music with him because Oliver liked that type of stuff and no one could stop him.

Quinn glances up at the sound of familiar footsteps. There was no real way to explain how she knew who the footsteps belonged to, it was something about the quickness in the stride and the echo of each footfall. "You have returned oddly early, Oliver."

"Something came up." Oliver explains placing a bag on the study table. "You'll never believe what Sophia gave me today." One glance at the bag's contents and Quinn can barely contain herself. It was a wool sweater in the most hideous shade of red ever created.

"You have got to put it on." Quinn insists, shoving the scarlet sweater into Oliver's hands. It wasn't embarrassing to see a strip of Oliver's pasty pale skin where his undershirt rises up when he pulls his black sweater over his head. In fact, Quinn's seen more of Oliver's bare body than she has seen any other males' body.

The thing about Oliver is that he looked good in dark clothing, blacks and browns were the main color scheme of his wardrobe, but dark shades of red went nicely with his skin tone, not this bloody scarlet red. Quinn practically falls out of her chair just from laughing at him, it was that hilarious. "I give you permission to burn this sweater." Oliver states, pulling the offending sweater off.

"We could go get you a new sweater." Quinn suggests finally calming down. She was lucky that her favorite study table was in the back of the library or else they would have gotten the boot. "Oh, we could knit sweaters, it'll be adorable."

"That is a bloody brilliant idea." That is how the two of them return to the Gryffindor Common room and talk comically about their plan to make sweaters for the entire Quidditch team so they could practice longer during the evenings, something the rest of the team did not seem to appreciate.

Alicia burst into a fit of giggles as soon as it reaches time for Quinn to meet Leon for some late night studying. "That is absolutely adorable. The two of them knitting sweaters together." The sweater idea had blown into making little matching mittens and scarves for each other. It was almost too cute to handle. "Oh Percy, tell me that they make matching scarves and mittens for each other."

The older Weasley had been through all of Oliver and Quinn's antics, which were almost on par with the twins. It was amazing Percy didn't have white hair already. Percy glances up from his book with a sad sigh. "Quinn's going to make scarves and mittens and then get distracted by Oliver and they will end up having a fight with pointy knitting needles and oddly expensive yarn. "

Thus, Percy had to sit Oliver down and persuade the Quidditch captain not to attempt to knit sweaters. Instead of a nice conversation, it came out more as a threat, which led to another quirky habit Oliver and Quinn had, going shopping together.

It was strange that Oliver and Quinn would go shopping with one another. They weren't anywhere near close to the same size or gender. "Why does she have to go shopping for him, I'm her boyfriend after all." Leon complains over his butterbeer with Roger, whom he had dragged out of the library that fringed morning.

Roger knew that Quinn wasn't going shopping for Oliver; rather she was going shopping _with _Oliver. Roger had gotten used to seeing the two of them arguing over sweaters to know it was a common occurrence, especially since the two of them believed that only two colors should exist in a wardrobe, black and navy blue. Sure Quinn would add a splash of feminine colors such as red and yellow, however, most of their color palette remained gender neutral, which is why there were at least two sweaters floating between Oliver and Quinn's wardrobe that Roger could not name to origin of.

"Perhaps you should go talk to her?" Roger suggests, because as far as he could tell, things were not progressing the way Leon would have liked them to. He was starting to overcompensate by giving random presents to Quinn such as flowers and tea.

"I don't want to be clingy." Leon mopes. Quinn's relationships have lasted for as long as five months and as short as about five minutes. That was a story that Leon would never forget, the bloke asked her out, and she said 'ok' and then it ended a couple minutes later for whatever the reason. He glances up as the door to the Three Broomsticks open bringing in the outdoors chilled air and Quinn. Rather it was Quinn and her best friend, Oliver who come tumbling in, their noses bright red and looking like the perfect couple. "She's always with_ him_." And Leon says the last word as if it were poison.

Roger sighs, he'd rather have Quinn and Leon breakup than listen to his complaints any longer. "Well, you haven't got a choice." Oliver had spotted Roger in the corner, and allowed Quinn to drag him towards Roger's sullen corner of the Three Broomsticks.

"Roger, I didn't know you were going to be here." Quinn exclaims, pulling the younger Ravenclaw into a tight hug, her shopping bag banging into the back of Roger's chair. "We finally got rid of that ghastly sweater Sophia got Oliver. But then we couldn't decide whether a blue or a black would look better on Oliver, so we got both."

Quinn never told others how awful their ideas were, however, she persistently insisted on her choice. And Oliver didn't want to change his ideas for others, but he didn't want Quinn to make her pouty face, therefore, their usual compromise would be to get both. It was a terrible habit between the two of them, but at least the two of them could support the ugly sweater business in Hogsmeade.

Leon isn't usually shy when it comes to verbal interactions; however, it felt as if he was intruding on something that Oliver, Quinn, and Roger shared, mainly Oliver and Quinn. "Quinn, could we talk for a moment?" She looks at him with a perfect smile on her face, as if she was genuinely happy to see him.

"Is something the matter, Leon?" Quinn asks once Leon finally got her out of earshot of the others. Quinn looks up at him innocently with her large blue eyes. Many would say that Quinn was highly naïve, but she wasn't blind to Leon's obvious infatuation for her, and the fact that she did not feel the same towards him.

"It's about us, and Oliver." Leon says, mentally gathering his courage to express his thoughts about Oliver and Quinn. It was silly to be so dependent on one another when they should be focusing on their separate relationships. "I think others will get the wrong impression if you keep hanging around him."

Quinn frowns. "I don't understand he's my best friend." For some reason, Leon knew she was going to say that, it was the only explanation for why the two of them were constantly together. Leon could see that the two of them had barely anything in common, he was obviously the better match for Quinn, and so it didn't make any sense as to why she kept insisting on being near Oliver. "I thought you would understand that." It was heart crushing to look into her sad and disappointed blue eyes as if he turned out to be less than what she thought he would be.

"I just don't think you two can have proper relationships with others when you're always together." Leon says quickly trying to salvage the tiny pieces of his dwindling relationship. "But that doesn't mean you can't be friends, I mean like normal friends, like you and Roger."

"I don't think this is working out, Leon." Quinn sighs, refusing to look him in the eye; instead, she focuses on a loose strand on her jacket. "Perhaps we should just be friends." It isn't a suggestion, it is a command.

And life didn't seem to change much after their break up. Looking at it now, Leon could see that he barely made an impact on Quinn. They passed one another in halls as they usually did, and it did not feel out of place to be ignored by her because she was busy conversing with Oliver. It was hard to believe that there was a bloke out there who managed five months with her, but then again, they probably had very limited interactions with one another. As long as Quinn's boyfriend didn't bother with the Oliver subject, then they would remain together, it was how Quinn could go from one relationship to another without so much as a scratch on her ego.

Oliver shakes his head, walking Quinn back to Ravenclaw Tower. "I don't mind if you want to spend more time with him. It's barely been a month." Truth be told, Oliver couldn't remember when Quinn and Leon even started dating, she went through boys so fast that they all tended to blur together. Most of the time, Oliver didn't even bother to learn the poor saps name, after all, he wouldn't last very long until Quinn got a new one.

"He's stupid if they think that I'm just going to drop you in favor for him." Quinn says angrily. Although Quinn always appeared to be bubbly, to Oliver the small sighs were as clear as day such as the slight downward tilt of her mouth and the crease in her forehead. "After all, I hardly even know him." Oliver nods, easily knowing when to keep his mouth shut, the last time he said something out of term, and he was on the receiving end of very hard slap to the face. If it weren't for Madame Pompfry, his face would have been swollen for a couple days instead of a couple hours. "But enough about that silly boy, what about Sophia?" She nudges him suggestively in the arm. "I hear you two are getting quite chummy together."

"Ah, yes." Oliver blushes a bit at the amount of public interactions Sophia initiated, and it wasn't that Oliver was a shy person, rather, there were some things that he just didn't want his professors to see or know about. "She keeps giving me stuff, like that sweater, " which they burned like so many other sweaters that Oliver received, all equally hideous, "and she took me to dinner once."

But none of seemed like it was enough now that Quinn was single again. Even when Quinn was dating Leon, it seemed as if Quinn and Oliver were as close as ever. Sophia thought she had a chance with Quinn slightly distracted, however, nothing seemed to be working, until Sophia found out about Oliver's sick, sick love for what Quinn liked to call "the spawn of the devil made of five layers of death."

"Perhaps we should tell Quinn?" Katie asks nervously, despite being a relatively new member to the group, she had heard more than enough stories about this forbidden candy. The entire Gryffindor Quidditch had been enjoying the rest of their afternoon after a grueling morning of practice when Sophia's owl flies into the Common room, a particular parcel gasped in its talons.

They had watched the owl drop its load in Oliver's lap where he recognized the label on the Chocoball box, and rushed out of the room, probably towards Ravenclaw Tower. The twins shake their heads, the situation was already a lost cause, the only they could do was wait, and find some nice candy for Oliver's hospital stay. If the stories held any truth, the damage was already done.

Oliver had found Sophia, expressing his gratitude in an adult manner and giving her a quick peck on the cheek before making his way to give the candy its proper nostalgic honor, despite the fact that Quinn held no appreciation for the chocolate. Roger raises a brow at the sight of the box, but merely holds the door open long enough for Oliver to duck inside. "Quinn, look what Sophia got me." He held the box out for her to view the gift.

Quinn barely glances up from her homework that was due in a month before her large blue eyes widen and she falls out of her seat. "Oliver, bin it, bin it before you fall prey to its chocolate seduction or worse, make me eat one. The Lords of Hell Spawn candies will smite us where we stand and we will be cast into the depths of confectionary hell." "

Oliver chuckles at her reaction, it was mildly amusing that she could still recognize the candy just from its wrapping and he reaches into the depths of his robes to pull out a small tin box. Quinn may have never understood the deliciousness of these particular custom Chocoball covered in coffee, toffee, caramel, peanut butter, and more chocolate, because she had the mind of a mere Muggle when it came to such a rare beauty. However, she did have an affinity towards Honeydukes's Crystalized Pineapples covered in chocolate with hunks of cranberries and oranges in it.

"This is a bloody terrible idea." Quinn says holding the box of candies in her hands as if they were a message from God. With one more glance at each other they tear into their respected devil's food, pumping their stomachs full of sinful chocolate, waiting to receive the wrath of God.

The wrath of God falls on them within twenty minutes, leaving them to curl up on the couch in pain. "How did we eat these when we were younger?" Oliver moans, clutching his stomach. "I feel like baby Flobberworms are growing in my stomach."

Quinn weakly tosses a pillow at his head. "Don't say things like that." She buries her head into the plush cushions of the couch, waiting for the pain to pass. "Curse you, Oliver; curse you and your gastrointestinal nostalgia for demon food." Oliver merely groans in response.

Fred and George knew that there were certain places at Hogwarts to avoid: library (still avoiding), 3rd floor girl's bathroom (which they went into their first year), the Forbidden Forest (had detention in there), and other Houses' Common rooms, which is why they were fidgeting in front of the entrance to Ravenclaw Tower.

It was a wonder why Quinn would travel such a distance to Gryffindor Tower, after all, she had to go down the spiraling stair case, then up two flights of moving stairs, and then down the hall towards the Fat Lady portrait. It was quite a bit of work.

"Perhaps we should come back tomorrow." Fred says slowly stepping away from the eagle shaped doorknob which had spewed out a riddle that sounded as if it were said in French. They both jump back when the door swings open. "Quinn?"

She looks up at them through her wild hair which had fallen out of its meticulous bun during her nostalgic indulgence. "Oh good, you have to help me with Oliver, he's collapsed like a stone." It doesn't take much more the get the twins rushing into the Common room to find their captain sprawled on a couch still in pain from his Chocoball.

"Bloody hell, what happened to him?" George exclaims, though the culprit was sitting on the floor at his feet. It was quite obvious that Oliver indeed had gotten sick from his sick gastrointestinal love for devil spawn chocolates from Honeydukes just as the twins had predicted he would. Quinn, on the other hand, appeared to be quite well, not a sign of stomach illness on her face.

Fred and George each ducks under one of Oliver's arms and hefts him up just enough to drag him down the spiraling stairs and to the Hospital Wing where Madam Pomfrey can fuss around him until his health has returned to him. "You think Sophia's trying to kill him?" George asks walking back to Gryffindor Tower to spread the news. Because more than half the news that went around Hogwarts started with the twins.

But they also had to commend Sophia, of all of Oliver's girlfriends; she was the only one who ever found out about the Chocoball. Only Oliver's closest mates knew about the spawn of devil and its effects it had on his stomach. However, it didn't stop the twins or anyone else from getting Oliver mounds of Honeydukes candies, ranging from Chocolate Frogs to Cauldron Cakes and Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans. "You kids these days." Madame Pomfrey shakes her head at the sight of the candy. Oliver hadn't even been in the Hospital Wing for more than a day and he already had more candy than some students got during Halloween. "I hope you learned your lesson, Mr. Wood."

"I'm sure he has." Quinn says it was the second time Oliver's had to go to the Hospital Wing because of the chocolate. The first time was during their second year and Oliver ate the Chocoball on a dare by the Weasley twins, which resulted in going to the Hospital Wing and rumors of getting his stomach pumped.

Oliver slowly gets to his feet, cringing at each movement he made. "I feel awful right now." He never did say how Madame Pomfrey cures him of his stomach illness, Quinn was pretty sure she did actually pump the demon spawns out of his stomach. He gathers up his candies and shuffles back to Gryffindor Tower. "Never again, Quinn, never again, " though it was highly likely that they would end up doing it again, if Oliver were to ever get his hands on those custom Chocoballs.

There was nothing else to do. The red sweater Sophia had given Oliver had mysteriously caught on fire, and the chocolates had left him in the Hospital Wing to get his stomach pumped, there was nothing else she could do. And Percy wasn't going to just tell her other weaknesses Oliver had after what happened with the Chocoballs. There was only one option let and that was to kill Oliver's first relationship at the source, Quinn.

"I'm surprised you asked me to meet with me instead of Oliver." Quinn says sipping her freshly brewed tea. It was Sophia's first time stepping foot in the Ravenclaw Common room; it seemed a bit frigid compared to the Gryffindor Common room. The walls were silvery blue with the nightly scenery on the ceiling. When the wind blew outside, there was a hallow noise that went through the tower that made Sophia shiver. "Would you like to go for a walk?"

Sophia couldn't get out of the room fast enough. How the Ravenclaw students managed to live with that haunty sound everyday was beyond Sophia's mind. They head towards the Great Hall, it would be empty at that time of day, and it was too late to get lunch, but still too early for supper. "I think you should break up with Oliver." Sophia says cutting to the main point once they had settled into their seats.

It was eerily silent in the Great Hall without the usual sound of thousands of conversations occurring at once. Quinn silently stares at Sophia. "What do you mean? Do you want to break up with Oliver through me?"

"No, I can't be his girlfriend when you're already his girlfriend." Sophia says pausing to gather her thoughts. There were so many things that Oliver would only do with Quinn, like working out new Quidditch plays because Quinn was naturally good at strategic games like chess. They would also happily run through Hogsmeade looking for that one elusive Chocolate Frogs card that they still haven't found. Only Oliver and Quinn could remain in the same sitting position with their ugly matching sweaters, talking all night about every random topic that popped into their head. And Quinn was the only person who had the same terrible taste in music as Oliver did, which meant they would scour the wizarding world together looking for a limited edition of their favorite pop tunes.

"I don't understand." Quinn says with a clearly confused look on her face.

"You're more his girlfriend than I am." Sophia says slowly as if the facts weren't painfully obvious. "You get him these little gifts that always make him smile, and whenever he needs to go somewhere he always asks you first. You even wait for him to finish Quidditch practices." Sophia didn't even know Oliver's random Quidditch schedule. "You two snuggle a totally indecent amount while talking the whole night away, and he always does your hair because you can't seem to do it yourself, and he drinks different types of tea with you because you think the different leaves can stimulate different parts of the brain's memory."

Quinn blinks at her a few times. "Um…we're best mates, Sophia. Best mates know each other like this." She takes another sip of her tea from the mug that _Oliver_ gave her for Christmas the year before. They had given each other matching mugs without even planning to because they knew one another that well.

"He gives you piggyback rides." Sophia says as if it was an actual sticking point. "He tells you you're pretty when you need him to, and you go with him to buy ugly sweaters together, and you two love to brunch together, only couples brunch together."

"Our sweaters aren't that ugly." Quinn says looking down at her navy blue sweater with a silvery bird on it. It was one of the few relatively decent looking sweaters she owned. "And besides, who doesn't love breakfast foods during lunch?" Everyone she ever talked to agree that brunch was wonderful, after all, in the mornings they would be too tired to properly enjoy their food, and therefore, brunch was the perfect time to enjoy breakfast food.

Sophia rolls her eyes and rubs a hand over her skirt, smoothing over any imperfections. "Don't you see that you're preventing Oliver from having a meaningful relationship with other women because you've already taken up that role?"

Quinn just blinks at her, it was times like these where one has to wonder how Quinn got to be a Ravenclaw. "Wait, so are you breaking up with Oliver through me or what?"

"I'm telling you to back the hell off because Oliver is dating me, not you." Sophia bursts out, unable to handle the situation any longer. "It's completely and utterly ridiculous how codependent you two are, therefore, I want you to help me with Oliver because that's what a _real_ best friend would do."

Quinn picks up her empty mug of tea and her messenger bag filled with homework that wasn't even due that week. "So, I'm just going to go then because if you think you can make me abandon Oliver like this then you are completely barmy." And she runs out of the Great Hall, leaving Sophia to wonder whether the conversation went the way she planned or not.

She got her answer the next day during breakfast. For some reason Oliver hadn't come down, and neither did Quinn. Instead, an owl drops a letter onto her hotcakes just as she was about to drown it in sugary goodness. She carefully pulls the letter out of the envelope, it was from Oliver.

_Dear Sophia, _

_ I'm breaking up with you. I don't want to talk about it and I'm not going to change my mind. I can't date someone who gets jealous of my best mate because, Quinn's my best mate. I'm terribly sorry that things could not work out, but I think it's for the best._

_ Sincerely Yours, _

_ Oliver Wood_

Sophia stares at the writing and then rereads the letter to make sure she hadn't misunderstood its contents. Through her third reread a second letter hands on her hotcakes.

_P.S. don't try to take revenge on Quinn or me, I won't stand for that type of petty thoughts, and I have Fred and George Weasley with me. _

Sophia just stares in bewilderment at the letters in her hands. How did her perfect life end up like this? Angelina and Alicia gently console the broken hearted girl, but deep down they both knew that it was for the best; after all, Oliver and Quinn were the perfect couple. At least this would explain where Oliver and Quinn were.

Oliver was not looking forward to seeing Sophia during lunch later that day. It was impossible to avoid someone from his own House when they both had to eat. He couldn't say that he didn't enjoy her presence in his life, but at the same time, he couldn't help but feel slightly relieved, as if a giant weight had been lifted from his shoulders. That was one problem down; the next should be arriving very soon.

The Fat Lady portrait swings open and Quinn slowly walks in looking as if she had an epiphany right when she woke up and rushed straight over to tell him. "Oliver, we're dating. We're like those Muggle couples we usually make fun of over the summer. Oliver, don't you see, we should be arguing over what color wallpaper we should get when we move in together and making a tea farm because it's the only thing we know how to do besides play Quidditch."

She only stops from her post-breakup weird epiphany delirium when Oliver shoves a mug of tea into her hands. The sad thing was that all of Oliver's girlfriends eventually did this; it was the reason why he couldn't maintain a relationship any longer than about four months. Usually around the third or fourth month of dating they would go and harass Quinn or Percy for more information about Oliver, most of the time it was Quinn. And she would always become convinced that they were dating and make up some elaborate story about their relationship.

"Don't you see, Oliver?" Quinn demands gabbing onto Oliver's sweater, careful to not spill her tea everywhere. "We brunch together, we don't just go eat brunch, we brunch. Oliver, I'm the A to your Z, we even go shopping for sweaters together. We have a favorite song by the Weird Sisters."

"You love brunch because you're always too tired to eat in the mornings, but you love breakfast foods." Oliver says calmly, smoothing out the wrinkles that had appeared in his sweater from Quinn's death grip. "And we've been over this. We're not a couple until you want to snog me without the twins' dare. Do you want to snog me?"

Quinn didn't even blink at his comment. "Oliver, my mum knows your favorite foods and she makes us matching sweaters for Christmas." They had gotten matching sweaters since their first year at Hogwarts because sweaters were amongst the only things Quinn's mum could knit.

"That's just proof that we're like siblings." Oliver continues, ushering Quinn to keep drinking her tea. The more she drank, the calmer she would get and the more likely she could be persuaded by reason. "Your mum is best friends with my mum." Because Oliver and Quinn were best friends and only lived down the street from one another.

Quinn looks up from her tea. "Or like her son-in-law." Quinn starts to pace around the room with her mug of tea. "All of your girlfriends break up because they don't want to be the third wheel to us. _Us_. Best friends don't cuddle on the couch and make ridiculous sacrifices for one another, or stay up all night talking about Puddlemere United and how awful they're doing this season."

Oliver had managed to calm her down long enough to convince her that their dysfunctional relationship would still be there when she returned. During lunch, Quinn was once again curled up on the couch with another mug of tea. "I suppose you really did break up with Sophia." Percy says as if that alone explained the utter mess Oliver was in.

"Yes, now belt up and go away, I need to convince Quinn that I don't need to snog her in order to be her friend." Oliver complains, making a shooing motion towards Percy.

But their post-break up conversations were much too amusing to miss out on. Percy was sure that most of Quinn's post-break up rants, at least fifty percent, were just for the sheer spectacle of them, and another possible thirty percent was to bother the hell out of Oliver. And the last twenty percent was actual delusions caused by the shock of the break up. It would only last a couple of days along with an unholy amount of tea and late night talks.

"No, I've got it, Oliver." Quinn says suddenly sitting up and knocking over her empty mug of tea. "We could drink loads of butterbeer, snog, and then you can break up with me. And then no one will think we're dating anymore, it's perfect."

"No, Quinn, darling." Oliver says settling on the other end of the couch. He had homework to do, unlike Quinn who must have foreseen this moment in time and had done all of her homework in advance. "We've talked about this too; you must pay better attention to us. Our love it true and that of siblings. We don't need to be a couple to make to better. Leave it for the soul-searching people like Percy, who will ultimately find their truest love."

Quinn takes a deep breath and seriously considers this statement. With a curt nod, she flops against Oliver to watch him do his homework and snuggles under the mound of pillows she had gathered on the couch. Oliver gently pats her on the head. It was another post-break up episode, and like all the ones before it, it would pass and everything would return to normal.


	3. Except

Except things didn't really return to normal. It wasn't as if snogging one another would all of a sudden make them a couple, they had snogged plenty of times before, even if it was for show. And it wasn't like seeing Quinn's bare skin would ever change anything. After all, their families went on vacations together, Oliver had seen more of Quinn's bare skinned back more times than he's had girlfriends.

And it wasn't like Oliver would wake one day and has the epiphany that Quinn's presence at Hogwarts made everything better, which he already did when he was a first year. It wasn't like he could realize that he just wanted Quinn to be happy and protected because he promised that when they were eight. And it wasn't like they had to see each other every single day, though Oliver would rather not relive that one summer where Quinn and her family went to France for a month without them. Life was just so boring.

So, perhaps Oliver wouldn't ever get along with another human being as well as he got along with Quinn, which may be why he can't maintain a proper girlfriend for any longer than five months. Quinn would always be his best friend, she puts up with his complaints about how the Ravenclaw Quidditch team is never in a proper formation when they watch Quidditch matches doing research, and she knew how Oliver liked to drink his tea, they had the same weird sense of humor. And although it probably goes against everything a Ravenclaw should stand for, neither of them had ever done an essay by themselves since they their second year. Quinn tended to try to write down everything she knew about the subject while Oliver attempted to sum everything up in a mere paragraph.

"Oliver, do you know where Quinn disappeared to?" Roger is still in his practice clothing, and appears to be on the verge of a panic attack. Oliver scratches some more notes into his Quidditch play, making notes within his notes to the point where even he couldn't read it anymore. But by then he had already memorized every step to the play. "I can't find her anywhere. She's supposed to check the girl's side in Hufflepuff tonight."

"Did you check the Prefect's bathroom?" Oliver asks. Quinn always did certain things when she got upset. Most of her problems could be cured with a bubble bath in the Prefect's bathroom with all those different scents and bubbles and whatnot that they had in there that Quinn's sensitive soul needed at the moment.

Of course Oliver would mock her for it, but it came with their years of being together. Life wouldn't seem right if Quinn's bubble baths suddenly disappeared, or her magical ability to make the perfect cup of tea or her hair that she could never tame. That was all Oliver really needed in life, sure Quidditch ranked quite high on the list of things Oliver could not live without. But he had given up Quidditch practices for a few weeks after being injured during a match their fourth year just because Quinn demanded that he took a break.

All in all, as long as Quinn was in his life, Oliver knew that he would be ok. Except for the times where Quinn decided that she wanted to run away from Hogwarts. She would, for some reason, send a letter via her owl to some Ravenclaw student stating that she had decided to leave Hogwarts for a while and not to look for her. The first time it had happened the Ravenclaw student almost ran to Dumbledore, until Oliver claimed that he could find her in a matter of hours. Ever since then, they always relied on Oliver to bring Quinn back because she was a sodding idiot sometimes.

This time Roger was the recipient of the letter. "Oliver, she ran away again." Roger says flicking the letter at Oliver early on a Saturday morning. "She's on duty again tonight." Quinn was usually a very responsible, until all logic went out the window because of her depression.

Oliver may not know the exact location of where Quinn decided to hide, but he knew that Quinn enjoyed apple cider flavored tea when she was upset, and that she didn't want to be found. Therefore, she would hide in the most obvious place, trying to trip Oliver up when he went to go find her. He hadn't fallen for that since the first time he went looking for her. He also knew that since it was the weekend, all of Quinn's favorite tea places in Hogsmeade would be open.

First Quinn would find the most depressing corner in the library and drink her tea while feeling sorry for herself. And when she finishes her tea, she will go and splurge her money on highly expensive apple cider flavored tea, taking it to go so she could hide out somewhere so she could drown her depression.

"Shouldn't you be looking for her?" Oliver breaks out of his thought process and looks up to see Roger staring at him expectantly. They never had to worry about Quinn when she ran away because Oliver was always there to look for her, but that didn't mean they didn't worry.

Oliver glances out the window. "It's futile to look for her without knowing where she is." And judging by the amount of snow that was falling, Quinn wouldn't be able to travel far on foot because most of the carriages were probably still arriving in Hogsmeade. Therefore, Quinn was sitting in one of the snow covered trees at the far edge of Hogsmeade, using the snow to hide from everyone. "She'll be back in time for her rounds. I need her heavy coat though."

Roger nods, rushing out to fetch the heavy coat that Quinn always seemed to forget because she would think that the winter was over after January. But it made it easy to tell which tree Quinn was hiding in because of her shivering feet. "You cold?" Oliver hands her the heavy coat, which she stuffs her slim body into while digging around for her hat and mittens. "I'm coming up."

"Sure, whatever." Quinn replies, holding onto her branch, because the last time Oliver climbed up, the branch wiggled so hard that Quinn fell out of the tree. Oliver carefully maneuvers next to Quinn who was sipping her apple cider tea, despite the fact that the cold air had chilled it to the point of no longer being hot tea.

"This is not just post-break up shock, is it?" Quinn makes a noncommittal sound and proceeds to try and warm up the tea with her hands. "You do know that we learn magic for a reason, right?" Oliver pulls out his wand and with a flick of his wrist; the tea is steaming once again.

"Prat." But Quinn drinks her tea appreciating its sudden warmth.

Oliver sighs as Quinn rests her head against his shoulder, sipping her tea. "So, what are we then?"

"I don't like dating anyone because I'd rather hang out with you then go on any sort of boring date." Quinn says suddenly. "And I don't think it's fair to all the girls that you date because they're always going to be that other woman."

"What does that even me—?"

"Oliver, you knew where I'd be." Quinn says not giving Oliver the chance to say anything. "If Percy ran away from Hogwarts, you'd have no bloody idea where he went. And don't say that Percy wouldn't run away and hide because he could. You grew up with him and he's also one of your best mates, but you wouldn't know where to look if he ran away."

Oliver shakes his head. "So I hardly care where Percy decides to mope around. That doesn't mean that we should stop dating other people." The thought of dating Quinn was a foreign concept, for most of their lives they had been together.

"Oliver, you told Roger where I'd be even before I knew that I wanted a bubble bath." Quinn says slowly. "We know more about each other than our parents do. I bet you don't even know Sophia's least favorite color."

"That hardly proves a thing." Oliver says unable to wrap his mind around the entire point of the conversation. He could tell the difference between her bubble bath needing face and her tea drinking face. "Just because I know that your least favorite color is pink and I don't know Sophia's. What do you want, Quinn?"

She sighs into her empty canister of tea. "I'm tired of people getting hurt, and you know I'm right." It wasn't fair to the girls or the boys to constantly rub it in their face that they would never be more important than Oliver and Quinn being together. It wasn't fair to either one of them to juggle two relationships and be equally invested in both of them. After all, Quinn could never be the girlfriend all those other blokes were looking for and Oliver could never give those girls what they truly deserved in a bloke. "But I don't want you to break up with me."

Oliver ruffles Quinn's hair. "We don't function well without one another." He thought about France many summers ago. It was a terrible summer for the both of them, and they insisted on going on summer vacations with each other ever since. "Let's go, you're on duty tonight." He helps Quinn down from the tree and they walk back to Hogwarts.

It didn't feel weird when Quinn slowly slips her hand into Oliver's. They weren't sure how being a 'couple' changed their interaction with one another, but Oliver attempted to make Quinn same calming tea when the returned and walked her back to Ravenclaw Tower as he usually did. Quinn gives him a rushed kiss before the door closed. It wasn't one of their showy kisses they did to mess with the twins' heads; there was no butterbeer or 2 sickle bets. It was just the two of them, outside of Ravenclaw Tower.

The next day Quinn shyly brushes her lips against Oliver's when they meet in the library. And Oliver felt weird about being on the receiving end of a greeting kiss and had given one back to her. Which morphed into more kisses that left Quinn's lips looking red and swollen, which might have been something Oliver found endearing and made him want to kiss her more. "We can't let the twins find out about this." Oliver says staring at Quinn from across the table. They both mutually agreed that this amount of development was enough for one day.

"They'll find out about." Quinn says pouring herself a mug of tea. "They always find out." The twins were very frightening that way, they were the ones who spread the story about Oliver's Chocoballs to their closest mates, and how they found the information out was beyond their minds.

They hid their status well from others, especially with the upcoming Quidditch practices as matches restarted at the beginning of Spring. In fact, no one even batted an eye when Quinn got Oliver special heart-shaped candies for Valentine's Day and that Oliver had given Quinn a tiny little heart shaped locket with their initials etched inside.

As usual, Oliver and Quinn were having their annual contest to see who had the most admirers. "We are burning those Chocoballs." Quinn says glaring at the tin of devil spawn Chocoballs that someone had given Oliver.

"Agreed." The twins say, and Katie tosses the tin of Chocoballs into the fire. "No, Katie, now we're doomed to forever practice Quidditch." Sure Oliver would never want to experience having his stomach pumped again, but the only person who had the permission to burn his beloved Chocoballs was Quinn. Because they didn't need anyone else in their lives, after all, they had found the love of their lives when they were six.

"Don't be too harsh on them." Quinn says carefully handing Oliver a steaming mug of tea. Her appearance out of the pitch, bearing gifts of hot tea and biscuits was a giant sigh of relief for the team's numb fingers and red ears. They were racing towards the locker rooms upon landing in the melting snow.

Oliver tentatively holds the mug; he could hardly feel anything with his hands. "They should have more respect for Chocoballs." Oliver says brushing a strand of Quinn's hair away from her face, his freezing cold hand accidentally touching Quinn's neck, making her yelp. Oliver was suddenly interested in finding out what Quinn would do if he pressed his lips against her neck or when he let his hands fall on her hips.

While the entirety of Hogwarts assumed that Oliver and Quinn were dating, they knew that the two of them would always consider the other as a friend first. It was painful to watch because they were clearly in love with one another, or so the twins keep claiming. "Percy, you have got to help us."

"I refuse to help you cause trouble with your pranks." Percy says, being the overly responsible older brother and Prefect of Gryffindor. There was no way that he could possibly be related to the twins.

"It's not a prank this time." George says, his teammates backing him up with furious nods. "We're trying to get Oliver and Quinn together." It would be another one of their many attempts to set the two best friends together, and like every other time, they were absolutely positive that it would work.

It didn't really help when their record involved both Quinn and Oliver getting angry at them for attempting to pretend to be the other, only they underestimated how well they knew one another and their handwriting. Or that one time they shoved the two of them into a closet, only for the door to be broken down minutes later because Quinn was having a panic attack. Needless to say, the twins and their coconspirators, namely the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, did not have a high success rate.

Percy shakes his head; it would be amusing to see what the twins do this time. But then again, he knew something that they didn't know; being trustworthy is such a hard burden sometimes. "Very well, what do you want to know?" Of course, Percy needed to get back at the twins for all the pranks they had pulled on him.

The entire team trade relieved looks. "How about Quinn's favorite flower?"

Quinn was not expecting a bunch of sunflowers to be dropped into her bed that morning, nor was she expecting to find a bag of apple cider flavored tea leaves. She glances over as the sunflowers Oliver had found her a couple days ago, if he had given her these flowers why couldn't he just give them to her in person?

On the very other side of the castle was a sleepy Oliver who was rudely awakened by a stubborn owl pecking at his head. "What the bloody hell?" He finally unties the package and lets the owl back out the window. The content of the package is his practice uniform, or at least a cleaner version of his practice uniform.

Over the course of the next few days, new rumors began to pop up around Hogwarts. Rumors about Oliver and Quinn's bold secret admirers, they were both one step away from receiving marriage proposals. "I can't say I hate this, but where on earth do they get the money to get this?" Quinn demands drinking her apple cider flavored tea.

"It's strange, they haven't written to either of us." Oliver says smoothing his hands down the new sweater he had received. Whoever these people were, they seemed to know both of Oliver and Quinn's favorite things. "They have to be getting the information from someone." They weren't mutually close to many people who would know such personal information about each of them.

"You don't think that Percy's playing a prank on us?" Quinn says already zoning in on the Gryffindor Prefect; he truly was the only person that could know so much about each of them. Oliver and Quinn had quickly accepted the strict and responsible Weasley as one of their closest friends during their first year.

"Hardly, it's probably the twins." Oliver says. But why Percy would help them was a different question. "Don't worry; I'll work them extra hard during practice tomorrow." The twins' pranks were usually amusing for everyone but the person being pranked.

Angelina and Katie look at the twins sadly, they looked awful, and Oliver had made them run laps after practice. Their first plan had obviously failed even without Oliver or Quinn confronting them. They needed to be sneaky. "Never fear." George says leaning against the plush armchair.

"We already have another idea." Fred finishes, mirroring the scheming look George was wearing. "We just need a few volunteers." They would get Oliver and Quinn together if it was the last thing they did.

"Oliver could you help me with the new play, I don't quite understand it." Katie says skipping over to Oliver and Quinn's study table. She nervously glances over at Quinn. "I think I saw Roger looking for you."

Quinn shrugs, packing her things to leave. "Good luck." Finding Roger was easy. He was a creature of habit, very much like the other Ravenclaws, he had his favorite study places, and then he had all the other places he liked to visit on occasion. Roger had claimed the first study table by the 'R' categorized books. "Roger, Katie said you were looking for me?"

He looks up at her with a bewildered look on his face, but as quickly as it came it was replaced by a sheepish smile. "Oh of course, I fear that my scores in Charms have slipped." Charms was Roger's worst class, however, he had never come to her for help before.

"I think it's working." Katie says gleefully when Roger finally appears at their corner of the Gryffindor Common room for their clandestine meeting. "It had better work." She shots a threatening glare at the twins. Katie had drawn the shortest stick when they chose the person who would work with Oliver, which meant she just sat through hours of Oliver explaining and re-explaining the plays he had come up with for their next Quidditch practice. The same plays he had explained to them the day before during practice before making them fly through the plays.

Roger nods. Of course asking Quinn, the Queen of Charms to help him with his Charms homework was a brilliant idea, but pretending to not understand the basics of preforming the easiest Charms was beyond embarrassing. Quinn was almost starting to look sorry for him. Especially after he had expressed his wish to continue is classes in Charms the following years.

"Just a bit longer." Angelina assures, and then they could go onto the next phase of their plan to get Oliver and Quinn to admit their feelings to one another. Everything had made sense when they were plotting it; however, they just never guessed that by themselves, Oliver and Quinn were quite boring. Katie and Roger were on the verge of pulling their hair out.

"Don't you think that Quinn and Roger have gotten quite chummy with each other?" Alicia asks, trying to keep her giggles down. Oliver glances over at the Ravenclaw table in the Great Hall, Quinn as pointing at something in a book while Roger stares blankly at the piece of parchment in front of him. "They are sort of cute together."

Oliver almost spits his pumpkin juice out. "That is ridiculous." He glances back at the Ravenclaw pair, Quinn tossing her head back, laughing at something Roger had whispered to her, though the two of them had been spending an oddly large amount of time together.

"Oliver's helping Katie with some Transfiguration homework." Fred informs Quinn when she wonders into the Gryffindor Common room looking for her Scottish best friend. "Those two are growing quite close, wouldn't you agree?"

Quinn stares blankly at him. "I suppose they are, I hardly noticed." Quinn taps her chin; in fact, she had hardly seen Oliver that day. He was always helping Katie with one thing or another. The girl couldn't be that daft, now could she?

The rumors spread like a wildfire to say the least. Soon the entirety of Hogwarts was whispering about it, despite the fact that people could hardly believe it. "Things are getting quite out of hand." Oliver says hiding with Quinn in the highest stands at the Quidditch field. It was the only place they could meet up these past few days.

"Do you fancy her though?" Quinn asks tucking herself into a corner as the wind blows through the stands.

Oliver quickly shakes his head. "She's not really my type of girl." He had enjoyed conversing with Katie, however the younger girl always had a guarded wall up, as she were afraid Oliver would bite her head off "Perhaps if we separated from them for a bit?"

Quinn quirks an eyebrow at him. "That might work; however, I'd feel awful for not helping Roger." The poor child appeared to understand Charms until a couple of weeks ago where Quinn spent most of her afternoon explaining third year Charms concepts to the boy.

"I hardly believed that Roger would need that much help in anything." Quinn may believe that the younger Ravenclaw students were merely babies; however, Oliver could see the maturity and knowledge they had gained over the past years under Quinn's guidance. "Besides he looks absolutely bored out of his skull."

"Very well then." Quinn agrees finally, satisfied that her actions would not traumatize her favorite Ravenclaw. Thus from that day forward they both started to blatantly ignore Katie and Roger when they require any form of assistance. "You should have seen his face Oliver. He looked like wounded puppy." Actually Roger appeared to be quite relieved that Quinn had declined his suggestion to study Charms.

"I'm sure he'll get over it." Oliver says keeping his voice low. Katie wouldn't leave him alone no matter what Oliver said to her. Today, she was insisting that Oliver should help her practice out on the Quidditch field. The first sign of something weird happening was that Katie would literally pull Oliver away from any person he was talking to, especially if it happened to be Quinn. The second sign was that she was begging to have extra practices with him.

Katie had unwittingly gained a massive crush on the Quidditch captain. "How does Wood get all of the girls?" Fred groans in frustration as they realized that Katie was not just pretending to distract Oliver away from Quinn, and that Oliver and Quinn were purposefully ignoring the distractions.

It seemed as if Oliver would do one thing nice any the entire female population at Hogwarts would fawn over him. "He's actually not a terrible person." Katie admits, a blush rising in her cheeks. She had obviously forgotten about all the bloody early morning practices Oliver had made them go to.

"Well this plan was a total bust." Alicia says tossing herself onto an armchair. All of the rumors that wondered about Oliver with Katie and Roger with Quinn had seemed to evaporate into thin air the moment Oliver and Quinn started to appear together again. "And the only thing we have to show for it is a fangirl."

"What now?" Angelina asks starting to lose faith in their ability to get Oliver and Quinn together. The two of them were the model of all best friends. "We've tried everything and if Oliver were to ever find out, he'll have us flying laps around the Quidditch."

"Why would I have you flying laps around the Quidditch field?" Oliver asks suddenly appearing next to them. They had two options, one lie to Oliver and then suffer the consequences when Oliver found out the truth from Percy, or tell the truth and suffer the consequences.

Either way they were in a world of pain. "No reason." Percy says, swooping to save the day. "I'm glad you and Quinn are best mates again." Oliver stares oddly at Percy, his gaze shifting from the older Weasley to the rest of his team.

"Of course," Oliver says slowly. "We have morning practice tomorrow, bright and early, don't be late." And he's out the portrait door with his Transfiguration book tucked under his arm to do some studying with his usual study partner.

"It won't matter because we're all out of ideas." Fred states, George nodding gravely. The twins usually always had great ideas; however, most of their ideas usually came from some third party getting punked.

"They're just oblivious." George agrees. "Or they are determined to grow old together without being together."

Percy raises a brow at the oddly depressed twins. "Does that mean you two are actually backing away from a challenge?" The rest of the team looks at them expectantly. The twins were so easy to manipulate, especially when their peers are expecting greatness from the two of them.

The twins trade looks. "Fear not, we will have a new plan in no time." The two of them rush off to their rooms to draw up new ideas that they would later claim to have no flaws until they actually try it out.


	4. Finally

By the time the first Quidditch matches came around, Oliver started noticing that Quinn would stare at him as if he were made out of all kinds of wonderful, and Oliver would stare back because maybe he thought that Quinn was also made out of wonderful things. And of course neither of them wanted to take the initiative to move their relationship forward.

He wasn't sure when it started but Oliver went from tutoring Katie to helping Sophia with her Transfiguration homework, while Quinn helped him with Charms and Potions. It wasn't strange tutoring his ex-girlfriend; they got along relatively well and were good friends.

"You and Sophia are getting along quite nicely." Quinn says simply blowing her cup of hot tea. They had settled down in a relatively normal routine again, of course, some days, their normalcy was destroyed by the entrance of a rather annoying Sophia who would not leave them, or rather Oliver, alone.

Oliver sighs into his tea. "I just wished she'd leave me alone." There was nothing wrong with Sophia; she was a perfectly nice girl, most days. "I barely have time to do my own work if I'm always doing her work for her." It was hard to believe that she could possibly be passing any of her classes with the level of understanding she had.

"Perhaps she just fancies you." Quinn suggests which was probably true, half the school fancied Oliver and all of his Quidditch glory. Before it gave Quinn a fluttery twisted feeling in her stomach, and it was only recently did she put a name to that feeling, jealousy.

Oliver rolls his eyes. He and Sophia had only properly talked during their study sessions together, and Sophia spent most of those times not even listening to his explanations. "She wants me to help her with her homework tonight. Will you come? I don't think I can handle her right now." Truth be told, being with Quinn was the only thing keeping Oliver from loosing his marbles entirely.

Quinn nods returning her attention to the strategy she was supposed to be helping Oliver with. There was no purpose in her editing, Oliver had drawn and redrawn every play and strategy multiple times already. This was just to reassure him that things would go smoothly during their first match against Slytherine. "I have something to tell Percy anyways."

Percy Weasley was their secret keeper, Oliver told Percy about his dates and plans for the next few Quidditch practices, the little conversational things that friends had, or at least, the friends that could deal with Oliver and his obsession. And Quinn went to Percy when she needed to have a truly intellectual argument with someone who did not reside in Ravenclaw Tower. Over all, they both told Percy things they did not tell each other, which was very few things.

"So you're going to tell him, then." Percy says, actually setting his book to the side, something that he rarely did for anyone. "This Saturday, after the Quidditch match?" He had to get an exact date or else Quinn would never do it, she'd find some loop hole and get out of it.

Quinn nods gravely. "This Saturday, after the Quidditch match." She repeats nodding her head. "I'm finally going to tell him. Thanks Percy." She wanders back to her usual spot next to Oliver. However, these days it was common to see Sophia pushing her way in between them with homework help. Well, Oliver was explaining stuff while Sophia sat very close to him with her knees pressed up against his and made their hands brush against one another's every time they moved. Oliver never made any changes in his expression, however, Quinn knew him well enough to know that he was very uncomfortable with his proximity to Sophia.

"Perhaps you should ask Quinn," Oliver suggests suddenly, snapping Quinn out of daydream. "She's much better at Charms than I am." There was no denying the fact that Quinn was the smarter one of the pair. People usually went to Quinn for help in their classes; she was by far one of the smartest witches of their year.

Sophia frowns obviously not liking that idea. And Oliver gives her a brilliant smile, glancing around Sophia's head to send a message to Quinn. If he had to spend another hour sitting next to her explaining concepts that Sophia didn't care about over and over again his head was going to burst. Quinn frowns at Oliver, neither of them really fancied Sophia that much. They were in the middle of a mute argument when something dropped out of the sky and hit Sophia on the head.

The balled up piece of parchment obviously came from the far corner of the Common room where the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team liked to study, when they decided to study. While Sophia was distracted with her glaring contest with the couch, Oliver and Quinn silently slip out of the Common room and make a run for one of their many hiding places.

"Down this way." Quinn says pulling Oliver's sleeve, turning down a hallway that appeared to lead to another open hallway. Behind them they could hear Sophia's voice calling for Oliver. They reach the next hallway and Quinn suddenly stops. "It should be around here somewhere." She looks up and down the hall, searching for something that Oliver obviously could not see.

"What exactly are you looking for?" Oliver demands seeing only plain stones and a few portraits down the hall. It looked like any other hall in the school. That is until a door suddenly appears in front of him. He doesn't the get the chance to voice his surprise because Quinn pushes him into the room, slamming the door behind them. Six years at Hogwarts and the school is still surprising him with its secrets.

The inside of the room is like nothing Oliver's ever seen before. There are large plush chairs, couches, rugs, and cushions everywhere in different shades of dark red and blue. The walls have different Quidditch posters along with a mixture of a dark starry night and a warm sunrise. It was as if the Ravenclaw Common room had merged with the Gryffindor Common room. "Welcome to the room of requirements."

Oliver takes a few steps into the room. "How did you find this place?" It shouldn't have surprised him that Hogwarts would have invisible doors; after all, it had moving staircases and talking portraits. And since Sophia hadn't burst through the door, it must not be common knowledge.

Quinn shrugs. "I was just looking for a place to study, and the door appeared one day. The room always changes." She closes her eyes and a bookshelf springs out of the ground in the far corner along with a small tea set, steaming with hot tea. "You imagine something and it appears."

Oliver nods, momentarily at a loss of words. "This is bloody brilliant." He throws himself onto a nearby couch, the cushions sink in around him and he could feel the tension in his shoulders leave his body. "Could you?"

Quinn settles down next to him, kneading out the knots in his shoulders. Oliver sighs, it felt good to have the knots in his back worked out, especially by Quinn, she knew exactly where the knot was and she dug her long fingers into it. Oliver melted into bliss, closing his eyes and enjoying the time off. It was moments like these that he looked forward to, just him and Quinn enjoying time alone.

"I figured you two would be in here." Oliver practically jumps out of skin at the sound of another voice in the room. The entire room had been silent except for the soft scratches Oliver's quill made against the parchment and the Quinn's muffled breathes coming bed fort made of cushions. "Did I manage to scare the great Oliver Wood?"

Oliver rolls his eyes. "Hardly, Percy, how do you know of this place?" It was suspicious that his two friends would know about the room of requirements and didn't bother to tell him about it. In fact, it was almost insulting.

Percy shrugs. "Just wandering about." He glances towards a sleeping Quinn, or rather; the pillow fort where her sleepy breathes was coming from. "You going to tell her then?" He asks quietly, not wanting Quinn to wake up. Oliver was the notorious heavy sleeper, nothing less than a Quidditch nightmare could wake him up during a nap. On the other hand, Quinn was a rather light sleeper.

"I haven't found the proper time." Oliver says returning to his essay. They were going to a topic that Oliver had been avoiding for most of his life. Percy sits down next to him giving Oliver a disbelieving look. It was a cross between a disapproving look and an amused one. As if he knew something that Oliver didn't know.

"You spend every day with her." Percy points out. And Oliver just glares down at his essay, making a think ink slash through a useless sentence. "What would you do if I asked Quinn after the Quidditch match on Saturday?"

Oliver looks over at Percy, "Are you serious?" Percy nods. "Why?" Oliver felt a multitude of emotions explode in his chest at once, betrayal, jealousy, loss, and mostly confusion. Percy had only ever expressed friend-like feelings towards Quinn and he knew about Oliver's feelings towards her.

Percy shrugs. "Why not? Just because you're too frightened to say anything to her doesn't meant that you can stop me from." Next thing Oliver knew they were standing toe to toe and he had a fistful of Percy's sweater in his hand. And the prefect is oddly calm about the situation. "What are you going to do, Oliver?"

"I'll ask her first." Oliver says. "I'll ask her after I win the match on Saturday." He finally let's go of the sweater with a slight shove.

Percy smirks. "I'll hold you to it." He pats out the wrinkles in his sweater. Percy walks towards the door. "You know I don't have the same feelings for her as you do, right?" Oliver stands there in slight awe. Did Percy just pull a prank on him? Percy, the Prefect, no abiding Gryffindor? "Don't forget, Saturday after your match against Slytherine."

Oliver sits back onto the couch, still in shock over what had just occurred. He had actually believed Percy when he said that he liked her, there was hardly anything to not like about Quinn. Oliver knew for a fact that even Roger had a bit of a crush on Quinn, he used to try to chat it up with her. It was actually quite relieving. He was going to tell her on Saturday, no more excuses. No matter what worries he might have about the outcome, he was going to do it.

"Was that Percy just now?" Quinn asks sitting up from her fort of cushions, rubbing her eyes in a way a young child might, it reminded Oliver of his first profession of love to Quinn when they were both eight. His mum and dad were away visiting some business friends and had left an eight year old Oliver with Quinn's family for the night. Oliver had been craving for something sweet and Quinn had broken her parents' rules and got him a cookie. After eating the cookie, Oliver claimed that he would love her forever. If only things were as easy as that.

Oliver nods, looking at his Potions essay; it was good enough to please Snape. "He just wanted to wish me luck on the Quidditch match tomorrow." Quinn nods shuffling over to him and plopping down next to him, her arms latching around his neck.

"You nervous?"

"No."

"Liar." Quinn says tiredly snuggling into his arm. "You can't lie to me." Oliver never could, he could get away with small ones that were mostly true, and Quinn could always see through him, just like how Oliver could always read the emotions on her blank face. He was just lucky that she was still sleepy or else she would have saw through his lie.

Oliver pats her head. "You worried that I might lose?"

"Shut it you wanker." Quinn says dozing off again. This only reinforced Oliver's determination. Only he could have two conversations with Quinn at one time, they understood the underlying messages the other was sending through their words. He knew that she understood how nervous he was, that even after years of Quidditch matches that even the great Oliver Wood got nervous. And Oliver knew that Quinn had complete faith that he would win. "You're just acting dodgy for some reason." She looks up at him. "Like you've got something to hide."

There really is no use in trying to lie to her. "I'll tell you after the match." Quinn gives him a disbelieving look. "You going?"

"You know that I wouldn't miss it for the world." Quinn tightens her hug for a moment before getting off the couch. "Let's go. Supper must be served by now." Oliver didn't realize how late it had gotten, through the windows he could clearly see the dark skies and the moon rising up.

Oliver barely gets to the Gryffindor table in time to grab some actual supper before it is replaced with tons of sweeties. "Where did you disappear to, Oliver?" Sophia asks from down the table. Even his teammates were looking at him expectantly, probably after Sophia bothered them to help her look for their captain all afternoon.

Across the room, it would seem that Quinn is getting the same questions. Instead of answering Oliver just stuffs his face with food and directs the conversation to a more important topic, the Quidditch match in two days. "We still have some work to do during practice tomorrow. Make sure you get there on time."

There is a collective groan around the table as Oliver effectively shifts the tide of the conversation. He is known to get quite intense around the time of a Quidditch match, and people tended to avoid him when he got like that. Oliver tended to blow up in people's faces with insults and complaints; it was tiring to be near him. He, however, was always found to be must calmer when around Quinn and left to his own devices, which his mates tended to let him do.

Percy smiles at Oliver from across the table with a look that told Oliver to not forget what else was happening on Saturday, it wasn't as if something like that was going to escape Oliver's brain that easily. And if Oliver had his way, he wouldn't even go to classes on Friday; he wouldn't be able to concentrate either way.

"Oliver you look like your life is in shambles." Quinn says plopping down next to him for their Charms class. Oliver groans he was already behind in Charms and there was no way he was going to be able to listen to Flickwick drone on about whatever they were covering in lecture today. "You ready for the match?"

"Hardly." Oliver admits pulling a messy looking play from his Charms book. He had been looking over his notes and anything Quinn had picked up on from watching their practices, trying to minimize the amount of errors they would have the next day. "Katie's form needs work and the twins almost whacked Harry off his broom yesterday." There was a time where his team expressed a concern about Quinn watching the practices; however, there was a large gap between his friendship with Quinn and Roger's. Her notes were invaluable to Oliver and his strategies.

Quinn takes his notes away from him before he could continue listing off the other problems that he had obsessively collected about his team. "You'll be fine. I hear that Marcus is also working doubly hard to beat you." She even takes away his bag; Oliver is known to stuff his play sheets and Quidditch notes in between the pages of his text books.

Oliver frowns. "That doesn't help at all." He knew that she meant Flint was working hard because he saw Gryffindor as their biggest rival that season; however, it is still too early to tell who the team to beat that year is.

Old habits were hard to break, especially when it is a system that if it were to be broken, Oliver feared would result in their most epic loss ever. This meant that Oliver spent his entire Charms class worrying about the dirty tactics Marcus had been teaching his Chasers to play during the match the next day.

Everyone buzzes with excitement on Saturday. It is the first match of the season and it is between Gryffindor and Slytherine, only the biggest rivals in Hogwarts Quidditch. Oliver could hardly keep his legs still; he taps his left foot nervously throughout breakfast. He had forced the team to get to the Great Hall early, giving them plenty of time to digest and maybe go over their strategy for the hundredth time that week. "Could you stop that, Oliver, you'll do fine." Quinn says whacking him over the top of the head.

Quinn keeps reloading Oliver's plate with more food, every time he would take a couple bites of his hotcakes, another one would appear on top of it, along with bacon and eggs. "Not if you keep stuffing him like a Thanksgiving turkey." George snorts finishing off his third hotcake. The nerves about Quidditch never seemed to affect the twins' ability to swallow all their food.

"He'll burst by the time the match starts." Fred adds talking around the hotcakes and bacon he had stuffed into his mouth. It only makes Oliver dislike breakfast before Quidditch matches even more. It made him nauseous to watch the twins eat.

"I've lost my appetite." Oliver says finally pushing his rather overflowing plate of food away from him. They still had a good amount of time before they are required to be on the field, in fact, there is probably enough time for a good inspection of their equipment to make sure the Slytherine players hadn't found their way into the locker room.

Sensing what Oliver was probably planning to do when he stands up, Quinn yanks him back into his chair with a surprisingly strong tug on his arm. "You are not allowed to get on that Quidditch field until you've eaten half of these hotcakes. You can't play on an empty stomach." The amount of hotcakes Quinn had managed to place on top of a tittering mound of potatoes and eggs is staggering.

Oliver grumbles something inaudible under his breath and begins to slowly nibble his way through his half-finished hotcake. He knew that when Quinn got nervous she tended to overcompensate of them and she tended to blabber a lot. At least with her blabbering, Oliver had time to reflect on the events that were to take place that day. Across the table, Percy gives him a lopsided grin which Oliver believes to be Percy's awkward way of smirking. "Don't worry about it, Perce." Oliver whispers. "After the match."

Percy barley nods. "Well, we should head to the stands." As he walks with Quinn towards the door of the Great Hall, Percy places his hand on her lower back where Oliver would put his hand when he tried to guide her away from danger. Oliver is sure that Percy is doing this on purpose but it works, Oliver is going to tell Quinn, no matter what.

Oliver isn't quite sure that had happened, during the Quidditch match they were trailing Slytherine by a good 40 points and his adrenaline pumping overtime trying to keep the opposing Chasers from scoring another point. It didn't help when Marcus would play dirty; Oliver is already one Chaser down due to an injury caused by the sneaky opposing captain. But then the tide of the match turns in favor for the Gryffindor team.

It is exhausting to keep playing for hours upon hours with no end in sight. Harry and Slytherine's newest seeker seem to be flying neck and neck towards what must be the Snitch. It is a one inch difference between winning the Quidditch match and loosing it. Oliver didn't realize what had happened until Madame Hooch's whistle stops the players on the field signaling the end of the match and the Gryffindor side of the stands explodes.

"Good job, Potter." Oliver pats the young Seeker on the back. The twins almost tackle Oliver to the ground while the girls make sure Harry is alright and that Katie, who had fallen off her broom during the first few minutes of the match isn't seriously injured.

"Party in the Common room tonight." Fred announces as he and George already rushing off to crack into their stash of candies and whatever else they kept underneath their beds. No one ever dared to venture there; whatever went underneath there usually didn't come out.

And then they were mobbed by the Gryffindor fans, everyone congratulating them on their winning success. Oliver breaks away to shake hands with Flint, trying not to show the pain caused by Flint's attempts to crush Oliver's hand. He's still trying to regain feeling in his hand when he catches sight of Quinn across the field.

Even though he couldn't make out what she was mouthing to him, inside, Oliver knew that she would meet him up in the Common room during the party that evening. All Oliver had to do was stay in one place and Quinn would be able to find him. Which she does, eventually.

Oliver had chosen one of the darkest corners of the room to hide in, though he would never admit that he was hiding in the first place. "There you are, it took me forever to find you." Quinn says finally walking into his corner; he had seen her pass by the area a couple times that evening. "Were you hiding?"

"Of course not." Oliver lies easily, quickly ducking to avoid getting whacked in the face by a cushioned that was aimed nowhere near his head. "But I have something to tell you."

Quinn slowly puts her next cushion down and seats herself next to Oliver, the arm chair barely large enough to hold the two of them. "I have something to tell you as well." They sit there in silence, waiting for the other to say something so they wouldn't have to say anything. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I think I'm in love with you." Oliver blurts out under the sound of the music. He hadn't exactly planned out how he was going to tell her, but it wasn't supposed to go like this.

Quinn leans against his arm. "Me too." With the words said they had expected something to happen, but nothing did. They were the same as they had always been with the quirky habits and being each other's better half. "What should we do now?"

Percy makes his way through the crowd to their little corner with his stupid lopsided grin on his face. "I believe that everything went as planned then?" Oliver and Quinn trade looks and sigh, of course Percy would be behind everything. "Took the two of you long enough."

"Why is Percy so happy?" Quinn asks, it is kind of freaking her out. Percy is not the type of person to be happy especially when there is a party where his siblings were involved. If anything, Quinn suspected that Percy was up to something.

They decided to snuggle up on the couch catching up on life and how Percy managed to pull one over the both of them. And when they finally got out on Monday, expecting the whole wizarding world to notice and care deeply about their new dynamic, unfortunately no one had, because to them, nothing had changed.

The twins had eventually realized they weren't doing this as an elaborate prank and demanded to know if it was one of their plots that had gotten them together. And when they explained that it was their do-no-harm older brother Percy, they gave up quite a few Sickles from their pockets. "Does this mean that we got pranked by Percy?" George asks.

And from then one Oliver and Quinn made it their goal to be the most sickeningly adorable couple to ever walk through the halls of Hogwarts, they went on tea drinking dates where they got free biscuits for being so adorable and were put up on the adorable couple's wall.


End file.
